The Isle - A Collage of Dinosaur Short Stories

5.5

Clouds rolled in from the distant horizon, the air strong with the stench of coming rain. It had been a few days since the giga had killed the parasaurolophus. The remaining flesh on its bones had begun to rot away, and the uncomfortable stir in his gut warned him of the poison to come if he continued to eat off of the rotting carcass. His mouth was parched; he would have to go for water soon anyways.

A pack of herrerasaurus' had been eyeing he and his body up since the previous evening. It was nature's way of telling him that it was time to give up his nearly inedible food.

With strong limbs, the giganotosaurus rose to his feet. He shook out his hide and with lumbering footsteps, he began padding away into the trees that matched his scales and hid him from the naked eye. With heavy breaths, he tested the air, the smell of water bathing his scent glands. Following the wet smell, he traced it into the forest until he stumbled upon the clearing. Water spilled from a glorious waterfall into a lake, the droplets glittering like hundreds of stars as they scattered into the air. The lake itself rippled gently as it poured into a river that rushed away the stale water.

The giganotosaurus crouched on the edge of the treeline, blinking slowly as he calculated his surroundings and watched for other predators. A pack of ceratosaurus lounged nearby, snarling and snapping at each other as they fought over the bodies of little dryos and oros. A utahraptor pack perched on the ledges of the giant rock wall that guided the waterfall, having found the few dry areas where they could safely sit. The giga tested the air again, catching the brief scent of a carcass in the midst.

Slowly, carefully, the apex predator crept out from the underbrush. He rose from his crouch and walked into the clearing with power in his movements. Nothing would dare to mess with him. He paused at the water, the mud squelching beneath his toes, and he lowered his head. He rasped up the cool water until he was content.

Taking a step away, he detected a patter of footsteps behind him. The giganotosaurus whipped around with a furious roar, feeling a nip to his tail. He snapped his savage jaws at the little utahraptor who dared to bite him. His fangs caught the base of its tail, and as it shrieked with terror he dragged the little carnivore into the air, thrashing his head, and in doing so snapping its spine. He dropped the body and bellowed his rage into the air, prompting for a challenge to his might. The clearing fell deathly still, no creature daring to utter a sound. The utahraptors stared at their fallen comrade, and the ceratos rumbled to each other in soft, inquiring tones.

Grumbling, the giganotosaurus began padding away from the utahraptor body, not bothering to eat as it was nearly nothing to fill his stomach. He tested the air to try to pinpoint where the carcass he scented would be, but caught a whiff of something that sent shivers down his spine. Lowering his massive head, the giganotosaurus began sniffing, inhaling deeply as he tried to determine the scent.

Rex.

The giga shifted with unease. His eyes flickered back and forth as the scent progressively grew stronger. The rex was heading his way. There was no reason for the giganotosaurus to run, as his scent was far too strong. The rex would likely challenge him for the water source, so the best he could do is fight.

An earsplitting roar rose from the trees as the tyrannosaurus emerged. The massive apex shook out her hide as she approached the giga, bellowing her fury for the whole world to hear. Her voice rang out, screaming at the giga to leave her territory.

The giga yelled back, his rage impalpable and his massive tail swaying gently back and forth. He would not give up the water source. He had grown accustomed to these parts, having hunted in the area for a few weeks, and wished to remain at his home.

The rex snarled, confirming her challenge. The giga pawed at the ground with a massive foot and bellowed with fury. This was his territory. It didn't belong to some measly rex.

The two apexes began circling each other. The ground trembled from each step the predators took, and they echoed each other with roars of rage.

The rex struck first. She sucked in a deep breath of air and screamed with all her might, charging as fast as physically possible towards the giganotosaurus. The giga intercepted her with a snarl, fast as lightning as he closed his jaws around her neck. The rex cried out, and with her small arms she clawed at the giga's face, piercing flesh and leaving droplets of crimson. The giga lost his grip and backed swiftly away, watching as blood soaked the rex's throat. He bellowed his fury and the rex snarled back, her lips peeled back to bare her long teeth.

The giga shifted on his feet, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He dropped to a crouch and began stalking forward, the rex matching his movements but keeping a wary distance. He growled his rage, before darting forward and snapping his jaws at her side. The rex snarled and whipped around as blood splattered her flank, her teeth clicking harshly together as they closed upon empty air.

The giga stumbled backwards, the most efficient getaway he could think of. The female rex roared into the air, fury mixing in with a faint whisper of fear and desperation.

The giganotosaurus advanced once again, only for a bone-crushing set of jaws to close around his leg. He screamed with pain as a second rex joined on the attack, shattering his leg with that single bite. He hobbled with pain, shifting his back to the water's edge. His leg gingerly touched the ground, and he was now on the defense rather than offense.

The two rexes flanked the giga with a murderous intent, gently rumbling to each other as they discussed their next course of action. The female's wounds bled fairly heavy, but she paid them no mind as she lowered to a crouch. She crept to the giga's right side, and the giga kept a wary eye on both of the advancing apexes. The new rex, who was undoubtedly a male, got too close for comfort and the giganotosaurus snapped his jaws in the air as a warning.

With the momentary distraction the female rex darted in and ripped her fangs through the giga's flesh. The giga twisted his head as his throat teared, leaving a bloody and painful mess as he closed his fangs around the rex's neck. He sank his teeth deep, hitting her spinal cord just as he felt his own knees buckle.

The female rex collapsed as he fell alongside her, struggling to rasp in breaths of air with blood bubbling from his jaws. The male rex approached with grief evident in his movements, gently calling to the female whose life had just ended.

The rex, with fury in his eyes, turned to the giga who lay on the ground with his last sliver of life. The giga stared up at the fellow apex, feeling empty and emotionless. His throat throbbed, soaked and foaming with blood, and his lungs begged for the air that couldn't pass through the crimson blockage. The rex stared down, and mercifully, he delivered a killing bite.

The lone male rex, after having slain the giga, sat down with the two bodies. One his mate, and the other a challenger. He lacked an appetite for the heaps of food as the beginnings of a storm fell from the sky. The rain progressively strengthened, and it washed at the blood that soaked the ground, before guiding it into the lake, which brought it to the river. The rex, when his hunger returned, would be fed until the bodies began to rot. When the bodies began their rot, he would then leave for his own hunt, alone, and without his mate.

~*~
Written on February 28th, 2019.